Sometimes “Conflict in Front Office” Is Good.

The other day, we wrote about how the Cleveland Browns get no credit for trying something different, when the Cleveland Indians are a stand pat organization, and they get criticized for not making any changes.

There is another way the two organizations are different as well, and it has to do with the relationship between the front office and the head coach/manager.

On the corner of Carnegie and Ontario, it’s a Kumbaya fest. Everyone seems to be on the same page and have the same opinion. In fact, it is difficult to tell who is doing the talking sometimes, be it president Mark Shapiro, GM Chris Antonetti, or Terry Francona.

They always seem to be in lock step, at least publicly.

On the other hand, the media loves to report about the discord between Browns’ GM Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine. It is further proof of the team’s “dysfunction”.

The reality is behind the scenes, there should be some disagreement between the coach and the person who picks the talent, because they should be coming at it from two different perspectives.

The coach or manager is trying to win, and win right now. That’s the way he gets to keep his job, and also, he is ultimately the person who the wins and losses are assigned to.

When the Browns have a 4-12 record, no one is saying that Ray Farmer’s squad has that record. It goes on Pettine’s record.

The general manager has to look at not only this year’s team, but also the future of the franchise, and if football’s case, salary cap implications.

Many coaches fall into the trap of favoring veterans with little upside because they are dependable, instead of going with a young player, who may have a bigger upside.

Think about the Indians in this situation. Terry Francona likes to have his bench filled with veterans like Ryan Raburn, Mike Aviles, etc., instead of keeping younger players like Tyler Holt or Jesus Aguilar.

In baseball, the GM has to weigh the positives of major league experience against not playing. For young players, they need to play. No one gets better by watching extensively. If that occurred, there would be a lot of fans who would be suddenly able to play professional sports.

When a team is in a situation like the Cavaliers are, it is easy for the coach and GM to be on the same page, because there, the goal is clearly stated. The Cavs are trying to win a title now, and everybody is “All In”.

However, in other situations, there is a different point of view for both the front office and the coaching staff, and that is healthy. It’s why you also don’t want to have a coach/GM in charge.

We remember Butch Davis proudly saying that all of his draft picks made the team. Of course, they did, because he was in charge of keeping them or letting them go.

Now, you don’t want the two people is total disagreement to the point where they cannot work together either. But, they should not be in lock step with each other.

To be sure, there have to be players that Farmer likes, that Pettine doesn’t, and vice-versa. It’s healthy and necessary in a winning organization.

The Indians seem to have a “group think” approach, and that’s not working well for them.

So, don’t be concerned that Ray Farmer and Mike Pettine don’t see eye to eye on everything. They have two different points of view.

Tribe Makes Some Moves, We Wished For More

The Cleveland Indians made a series of trades before the July 31st trade deadline, moving two left-handed bats in David Murphy and Brandon Moss, and they also moved lefty reliever Marc Rzepczynski.

We have no problems with any of the moves, as the deals with open up the roster for some younger talent.

Our regret is they didn’t do more.

The first trade, which sent Murphy to the Angels, is simply a case of the outfielder having a club option at the end of this year, which the Indians weren’t willing to pick up. So, they moved him for a minor league SS in Eric Stamets.

Stamets is purported to be a good athlete, and excellent defender who cannot hit, batting under .250 each of his last two seasons in the minor leagues.

But really, there isn’t a huge demand for corner outfielders who don’t have a lot of pop. The only question is getting another shortstop with Jose Ramirez (who can play other spots) and Erik Gonzalez already trapped behind Francisco Lindor.

The Moss deal was a surprise, but the 1B/OF was an all or nothing hitter with Cleveland, and that Antonetti was able to get one of St. Louis’ top prospects made this transaction a no-brainer as well.

The southpaw Cleveland received in return, Rob Kaminsky, is 6-5 with a 2.09 ERA this year in high A, and we hope he goes to Akron. In his three years in the minors since being the Cardinals first round pick in 2013, he has a 2.15 ERA.

He is said to have a deceptive delivery and hitters have a hard time picking up the ball. He’s also a strike thrower with just 68 walks in 217 minor league innings.

The return for Rzepczynski was OF Abraham Almonte, who is a .233 hitter in over 300 big league at bats, of which he was struck out in about a third of them. So, he’s more like a guy who will spend a lot of time in Columbus.

We would have liked to seen the Tribe move OF/DH Ryan Raburn too, and that might still happen before the August 31st waiver deal deadline. Raburn got off to a hot start, but has been mediocre with the stick since the middle of May.

The front office also didn’t resolve their Michael Bourn problem, so the outfielder who had a mini-renaissance this week (his OPS is up to 600 folks!), is still here and we assume that Terry Francona will continue to write his name in the lineup.

There were rumors that Cleveland was dangling Carlos Carrasco in the deal which would have brought back the impact bat, the team desperately needs, but nothing happened.

At the very least, these moves give the Indians an opportunity to look at some young players, like Tyler Holt and Jerry Sands, just recalled, and lefty Michael Roth, who came up earlier this week.

It also gives Lonnie Chisenhall one last chance to prove he can be a big league hitter.

The reshaping of the Indians’ roster has started. It’s unfortunate that the weaknesses of this team, that were evident as early as the beginning of May, weren’t addressed sooner.

What Tribe Should Do In The Last Two Months

It is more apparent than ever that the Cleveland Indians need to do something about this roster as they head into the July 31st trading deadline at the end of the week.

The Tribe needed a good start to the second half, as they had nine games against the weaker squads in Major League Baseball (Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and the White Sox) and to this point are 3-5 against them.

Cleveland has demonstrated nothing to hang your hat on in the second half. The offense has been deplorable, the starting pitching has collapsed, and while the defense is better than the horrific first two months of the year, it still makes key mistakes at the most inopportune times, and the pitching staff cannot pitch around them.

The front office is asleep at the switch, seemingly refusing to address any of the problems this team has, and make no mistake, they have been around since day one of the season. And we have to take Terry Francona to task as well, as he hasn’t made any adjustments to what he has either.

This is a team with little home run power, yet he still sits back and plays for the three run bomb.

Look, the Indians’ hitters don’t strike out a lot, so why not send runners every once in a while. And SS Francisco Lindor, who stole nine bases in AAA, has attempted just one with the Indians, and that was in his first big league start.

So, perhaps the front office can improve the current roster by trading some of the veterans on the roster.

The obvious duo is the platoon tandem at DH in David Murphy and Ryan Raburn. Now, before you say these are two of the team’s better hitters, let’s look inside the numbers.

Over the last 28 days, Murphy has hit just .184 with a home run and seven RBI (569 OPS). In the same time period, Raburn has batted just 22 times, hitting .182 with three runs batted in.

Of course, that hasn’t stopped Francona from continuing to hit them both in the clean up spot on a regular basis.

Moving those two players and removing Michael Bourn from the roster would give GM Chris Antonetti three roster spots to work with.

That would enable the organization to find out if Jesus Aguilar and/or Jerry Sands can contribute to the team going forward, and also give Tyler Holt and/or Tyler Naquin some big league experience.

Naquin would be the most intriguing because he is the best prospect of the group, but Sands knocked in six runs in his 24 at bats here, which is three less than Mike Aviles for the entire season.

We are tired of hearing the argument that Bourn has to stay because of the amount of money he is owed by Cleveland. It’s a ridiculous argument. No player, repeat, no player should get at bats because of what they are making. YOU HAVE TO PAY HIM ANYWAY! There is no need to have him decrease the team’s chances of winning.

Why aren’t we hammering Nick Swisher for the same reason? One, he’s not on the roster right now. Two, he’s only had 101 at bats this year. If he is reactivated and he still is not doing anything, then he will draw the same ire as the centerfielder.

Of course, Antonetti said earlier this week that he is still confident in the team he opened the season with. Either he is dumb or a liar, because if you watch the games, you couldn’t possibly come to that conclusion.

This team’s only chance, and it gets slimmer by the day, is to make these chance and hope the younger players come through.

And if they don’t, then at least the front office knows who can contribute in ’16 and who cannot.

Despite Criticism, We Think Tribe Still Has a Chance

If you read this blog on a regular basis or follow us on Twitter, you might think we feel the Cleveland Indians should forget about this season and start working toward the 2016 campaign.

And you would be wrong.

Why? Because a quick check of the standings shows the Indians are still just 5-1/2 games out of a playoff spot. The truth is, that’s why we keep pushing for the Tribe front office to make some moves, because there is still very much hope, although not with the team as it is currently constituted.

We grew up in the era where a contending team didn’t come around all that often. Okay, it didn’t come around at all. That was baseball in this town from 1969 through really, 1993. There weren’t too many reasons to get excited about the squads that toiled at old Municipal Stadium.

That’s why we can’t bring ourselves to look toward the 2016 season. There is a legitimate chance here is the front office stops looking through rose-colored glasses and sees they need to take action for the rest of the season.

This past week, we read various things about how the Indians are unlucky. They hit the ball hard often, but don’t get hits, Their opponents hit bloopers that fall in, etc.

First, to borrow from the sport that uses an oblong ball, as Bill Parcells says, you are what your record says you are.

And the Tribe is currently four games below the break even mark at 45-49. And that’s a mediocre record.

What gives us hope is the starting pitching staff, which is capable of shutting down teams on a nightly basis. You can say with conviction that Terry Francona’s team in capable of holding the opponents to two runs or less every night. That doesn’t mean they will, but they have starters capable of doing it.

The problem is with the offense, and the baseball fairies aren’t going to come down and sprinkle magic dust on the Indians’ bats and they will finally start to hit.

To the “bad luck” folks, we say this: Is it bad luck that on most nights, Francona writes out a lineup that includes four hitters batting .230 or less, and only three hitters with a mark of over .260.

We know, we know, stat people, batting average is overrated. The league average for OPS is 718. A typical Cleveland lineup with contain five batters with an OPS under the league average. And since you are statistically driven, that would be more than half of the team they put on the field each day.

One of those hitters is OF/DH David Murphy, who the optimistic fan base thought was going to hit .325 all year. Murphy has started to regress to his normal batting mark of around .270, so if the front office were to deal him sometime next week, we would not consider that folding up the tent.

The season is more than half over, so pretty much what you see is what you are going to get from these players. Sure, Carlos Santana and/or Brandon Moss are capable of getting hot, and perhaps Yan Gomes too, but will all three get hot at the same time?

And really, your basing your success on players getting red-hot?

The Indians need to make some moves, even if it is just giving some more young players a chance, if they want to contend for the playoffs.

They are too close to just throw in the towel. Moving on with an eye toward next year will just further alienate an already apathetic ticket buying public.

Tribe Needs A Fast Start to Second Half

With the second half of the baseball season picking up on Friday night in Cincinnati, here are the standings that any Cleveland Indians’ fans should be worried about.

Houston         49-42        —-
Tampa Bay    46-45         3
Baltimore       44-44         3.5
Detroit           44-44          3.5
Toronto         45-46          4
Texas            42-46         5.5
CLEVELAND 42-46        5.5
Chicago         41-45        5.5
Boston           42-47         6

Those are the standings for the second wild card spot. And really, since the Twins are a game ahead of Houston, the Tribe is 6-1/2 games behind for a chance to host a wild card game.

That’s a more optimistic viewpoint than looking at the 11 game deficit facing Terry Francona’s team to win the American League Central Division, currently led by the Kansas City Royals.

The entire league is kind of in the same predicament, with the standing very bunched and no one truly out of the chase for the post-season.

And with the second half schedule starting out with three teams currently below the break even mark, starting with three in Cincinnati, two in Milwaukee, and then four at home against the White Sox, this is the time, if the Indians can make a move, to indeed gather some wins.

The question is, do these have the horses to put together a winning streak?

Certainly, they have the starting pitching. Although it is doubtful that Cody Anderson can continue to pitch like he has thus far, mostly because opposing hitters are hitting .189 against him, and he’s not striking out many, right now, every night Cleveland takes the field, their pitcher has the ability to throw a shutout.

And based on what happened last season from August 1st through the end of the season, Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco are capable of being even better than they have pitched so far this season, and Trevor Bauer is definitely better than he was a year ago.

So, there is some history on Cleveland’s side.

But, the front office needs to improve the offense, and we aren’t talking about banking on a big second half from Carlos Santana and/or Brandon Moss, nor a healthy Nick Swisher bolstering the hitting. The need to bring in a bat, either from the minors or via a trade.

The Tribe also needs to bolster the bench by simply adding an extra player, because the way the starters are going right now, there is no need for Cleveland to carry eight relief pitchers.

Jeff Manship appeared in one game last week. Ryan Webb appeared in one game last week. And Kyle Crockett, just called up to replace Nick Hagadone, who went on the disabled list, pitched once last week. This proves there is no need to carry an extra guy in the bullpen.

Adding another position player, preferably someone else who can play centerfield, would provide a possible platoon partner for Michael Bourn (not going to beat that dead horse) who is not Michael Brantley. Brantley’s defense in CF has declined, perhaps because of his back injury, and that added stress seems to have affected his hitting, which the Indians cannot afford.

And if the starters get beat up in consecutive games, you can always go back to Columbus and call up a fresh arm. That’s what most big league teams do.

However, if the Indians are going to contend this season, they have to hit the ground running starting on Friday night. They cannot have another two or three weeks where they tread water and hope to have a shot.

Here’s hoping everyone in the organization has a sense of urgency.

Tribe Will Need to Win Some Games With Their Bats in Second Half.

Our beloved Cleveland Indians are in the midst of another stretch of good baseball, winning 8 of 11 since the debacle double shutout in Baltimore, and now sit just two games below the .500 mark at 42-44.

The starting pitching has carried the Tribe over this stretch allowing just 29 runs in the 11 contests, which nine of those tallies coming in the opener of the current home stand against the Astros.

That means, in the other ten games, the opponents have scored 20 runs, and even those bad in math would recognize that averages to two runs per night.

Even with the Indians’ anemic offense, you can win a lot of games that way.

Which is the problem the Tribe faces going forward, after play resumes next Friday in Cincinnati. Can they win games consistently when the pitching isn’t overwhelming.

To put together a long sustained streak of success, Terry Francona’s squad is going to have to win some 6-5 or 8-6 games.

When Indians’ pitchers allow five runs in a game this year, they are basically screwed. Their record is 3-27. Which, of course, when they hold teams to four runs or less, they are 39-17.

The problem is that they’ve allowed five or more runs in 30 of their 86 games.

As a comparison, the first place Kansas City Royals are 7-20 when they allow five runs or more. The Astros are 9-21. The AL East leading Yankees are 6-25, and the Twins, who would qualify for the post-season if the season ended today, are 8-23.

We understand that no team is going to be over .500 allowing over five runs a game, but notice that the better teams in the AL have all doubled the Indians win total in that situation.

And if the Tribe had the six wins these other teams have, they would be 45-41 for the season, and be sitting just 1-1/2 games out of a spot in the post-season.

So, will the front office try to do something to help the Indians score more runs after the All Star break?

As usual, we are skeptical. Sure, they may try to use the “we are getting Nick Swisher back, and that’s like adding a bat in a trade” line. Or “if Carlos Santana can get hot, that would be better than making a deal” baloney.

But the reality is they need to do something, and it doesn’t have to be a big splash like trading for a guy like Carlos Gomez, although he is under contract through 2016, and would be a dramatic upgrade in centerfield and a right-handed bat.

However, dealing for him would be a great move and as a bonus, might get people who buy tickets interested in this team.

Knowing the Indians’ conservative management, they could also simply make some internal moves to help the offense.

First, they could add a bat from Columbus (yes, we are advocating for Tyler Holt again), because with the starting pitching doing well, there is no need for eight relief pitchers. Guys like Jeff Manship and Ryan Webb are collecting cobwebs in the ‘pen because they are rarely used.

Why not convert them into someone who can play CF vs. lefties, therefore eliminating the need to use Michael Brantley there and also there would be no need to use Mike Aviles in left.

Perhaps it is because of his bulky back, but Brantley is no longer even a decent defensive player in center. And we believe DHing more often would make him drive the ball more.

Was it a coincidence that Tuesday night as a DH, he had three hits and hit his first home run in more than a month?

The organization also has to be thinking (or at least they should be thinking) that the platoon of David Murphy (lifetime .276 hitter currently hitting .326) and Ryan Raburn, will show some regression at the season wears on.

To be fair, Francisco Lindor and Giovanny Urshela, who have shored up the left side of the infield, should improve at the plate going forward.

At any rate, the onus is squarely on GM Chris Antonetti. If the Indians can make it to the playoffs, their starting pitching can be dominant enough to carry them deep into October.

But you have to get there. Your move, Mr. Antonetti.

The Only Consistent Thing About Tribe at Halfway Point…

For a team as inconsistent as the Cleveland Indians are, it is fitting that their record at the halfway point of the season is right around the .500 mark, although slightly below at 38-43.

And they start the second half of the year against the same team and pitcher they opened the regular season against, with Houston pitching Dallas Keuchel tonight.

Terry Francona’s squad went 12-15 over the last 27 games (1/6th of the season), down from the 16-11 in the second sixth of the season.

The first 27 games was a disaster at 10-17.

Such is the fate of the up-and-down Tribe, who can’t get anything going this season, and probably won’t be able to as long as the roster is made up of the same group of players.

The trip that just ended was a microcosm of the Cleveland season.

They looked horrible against Baltimore, getting shutout in the last two games, a doubleheader, which ended a sweep of the series by the birds.

Then, they visited Tampa, with the Rays owning a share of the top spot in the AL East, and took four straight from Tampa, the first three with their starting pitchers flirting with no-hitters.

They won the first game in Pittsburgh, then reverted back to their anemic offense, losing 1-0 on Saturday, and getting a paltry five hits on Sunday in a 5-3 loss, although the NL’s winningest pitcher, Gerrit Cole, was on the hill for the Bucs.

The best thing about the Indians’ season to date has been the jumbled nature of the American League, where no team is more than 6-1/2 games out of the second wild card spot.

On the other hand, the Tribe has the 10th best record in the AL, meaning there are more teams ahead of them than behind.

This clumping reduces the number of teams that will be sellers at the trade deadline at the end of the month, so it will be difficult for GM Chris Antonetti to make a move to improve the roster.

Unless, however, they do it from within, which has been our contention all along.

There isn’t a blockbuster trade out there, and really, we don’t want the Indians to give up their core position players (Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley, Yan Gomes, Francisco Lindor) in any deal.

Nor do we want to deal the young, controllable starting pitchers either.

What should be done is more incremental moves, even subtle ones, that make the team better.

Cleveland did just that over the last 30 days by bringing up Giovanny Urshela to play third base and Lindor to play shortstop.

The defensive matrix says Lonnie Chisenhall did a solid job on defense this season, but at the very least, we can say Urshela is as good with the glove (our opinion is he is better), but he is hitting better (Urshela’s OPS is 651 compared to Chisenhall’s 585).

And the rookie has shown consistency, with a 13 game hitting streak just ending yesterday.

Lindor has struggled at the dish, as expected, but he is still performing better than Jose Ramirez did (Lindor’s OPS is slightly higher), and the defensive statistics say he is already the Tribe’s best glove man.

Which brings us to our favorite whipping post, Michael Bourn.

Let’s say the Indians replace Bourn with Tyler Holt, and Holt hits .265 with an OPS of 700, which is slightly below average in the AL. That batting average would be 25 points higher than the veteran’s, and the OPS figure would be more than 100 points better.

Think the Indians would be a little better then?

We understand the contract status of Bourn, but right now, you are paying him to hurt the ballclub, and you don’t have to.

Yes, yes, we know he had a decent weekend against the Pirates, but that’s what we talk about in terms of consistency.

He had two good games. He may go 0 for 12 this week against the Astros and A’s.

Can the Indians make a run? Of course, but it will take a significant run of good play to do it, something they were unable to piece together in the first 81 games.

Time For Tribe Shake Up If They Want to Contend

The Cleveland Indians are starting a 10 game trip which could make or break their season.

Yes, they are still just six games out of the second wild card spot in the American League, but their record is 33-39 and an unsuccessful trip would put them with too many teams to pass to claim a playoff spot.

From May 14th through June 2nd, the Indians went 13-5 and it looked like perhaps they turned around their season.

Unfortunately, that 19 day span is the only consistent baseball they played all year, and outside of that stretch, the Tribe is 20-34, a truly mediocre record over a 54 game span, which is one-third of the season.

The Indians will tell you there isn’t much they can do about the current roster, but that’s a lie. Here is what we would do:

We hate to see anyone lose their jobs, but despite what the Indians front office will tell you, baseball is a results business. They seem to think it’s an entertainment business.

1). Get a new hitting coach. Ty Van Burkleo made not be the reason the Indians can’t hit with men on base, but sometimes a new voice is needed. In 2005, Eric Wedge replaced Eddie Murray with Derek Shelton and the offense took off.

Maybe it’s a reach, but it’s worth a shot. Rouglas Odor was just named the hitting coach for the AAA All-Star Game, so perhaps he should be promoted.

The offense has struggled for more than just this season, it was tough to score runs the second half of last year too. It’s time to try something different.

2). Eliminate the dead weight on the current roster. Think about how many players Terry Francona doesn’t want to play or pitch with the game on the line.

It’s quite obvious the organization has lost confidence in Michael Bourn, relegating him to a platoon role. It’s time to release him.

We know how much money he is making, but right now he is hurting the team. A better alternative is to pay him (you have to anyway) and not have him hurt the team. This roster would be better off with Tyler Holt or Tyler Naquin on the team instead of Bourn.

Besides, this is making Michael Brantley play more centerfield, which is not good for his back, which in turn is not good for his bat. Brantley needs to move back to left permanently, and perhaps he will start hitting better.

The same goes for the bullpen. Francona doesn’t have faith in Nick Hagadone and it seems his confidence in Zack McAllister is waning as well. Cleveland has organizational depth in relief pitchers, so why not use it.

They’ve been loathe to give Austin Adams a shot for most of the season, instead, going with Scott Atchison, and right now, C.C. Lee deserves an opportunity.

Why not see what you can get for Hagadone and McAllister and get some more prospects.

It’s not like these moves would be catastrophic. The Tribe is struggling mightily now. Why not try something else? It is doubtful that the replacements for these players or coaches could perform worse than they are right now.

The front office of the Indians has a history of patience and sitting on their hands. It’s time to get up and do something, and do it now. Otherwise, the attendance figures at Progressive Field are going to keep declining.

And instead of coming up with reasons for that…just look in the mirror.

Using WAR to Identify Tribe Veterans Not Helping Club

This seems to be an annual thing to write when it comes to the Cleveland Indians and their manager, Terry Francona.

It is about the difference between patience and stubbornness. Even Francona himself acknowledges that he can be stubborn at times because he trusts the players you have performed for him in the past.

Once again, it seems like Tito and general manager Chris Antonetti have some decisions to make if the Tribe is to remain in contention for the playoffs in 2015.

As the season nears the halfway point, it is becoming apparent that a few players aren’t contributing to the success of this team, and the question is should they be replaced?

Now, we aren’t total proponents of WAR (wins above replacement player) because our opinion is that it is tilted toward middle of the diamond players. One of the selling points on Michael Bourn when he signed in 2013 was that he had a 6.1 WAR in 2012.

We looked at the stats and said he was a terrible offensive player for most of his career. His WAR rating was high because he plays centerfield and he was a solid defensive player.

However, within a team, WAR does tell you who is contributing and who isn’t.

For example, the lowest WAR among position players on the Indians belongs to Nick Swisher at -0.6, meaning a player in AAA would be better than him.

The only other position player with significant playing time and a negative in this category is Jose Ramirez. Which kind of validates the statistic.

On the pitching staff, the hurlers who have a negative WAR on the season are Bruce Chen, who is now retired, T.J. House, who is currently injured, and two current members of the bullpen.

Those two would be veteran Scott Atchison and Nick Hagadone.

The former is now 39 years old and had an excellent season with the Indians in 2014. Unfortunately, that was last year.

This year, he’s allowed six home runs in just 18 innings of work, and Francona can’t be comfortable bringing him into a game. By all accounts, Atchison is a great guy, but he doesn’t appear to be able to be effective anymore.

Hagadone is one of those pitchers who has unbelievable stuff, and he’s left-handed to boot. Scouts and personnel people always love guys like that.

His problem though is that he can’t throw strikes consistently, and that leads to problems. He’s given up more hits than innings pitched and has walked ten in 23 innings. His career ERA is 4.79. And he will be 30 on New Year’s Day.

The point is this isn’t some 24-year-old flamethrower we are hoping will be able to corral his pitches. He’s another guy that Francona has to be hesitant to bring into the game.

You can’t tell us the relief corps wouldn’t be better off with Austin Adams (2.38 ERA in 7 games) and Kyle Crockett (five scoreless appearances) pitching in Cleveland rather than Columbus.

Here’s a list of players hovering around a zero WAR, meaning they are replacement players: Carlos Santana (0.3), Bourn (0.3) Mike Aviles (0.4), David Murphy and Brandon Moss (0.5).

And these pitchers: Cody Allen (0.1 although he’s been better since the end of April), Marc Rzepczynski (0.0), Ryan Webb and Bryan Shaw (0.4).

This shows there are a lot of Indians who aren’t getting it done, and they need to pick it up if this team is going to start winning.

Remember, once players get into their 30’s, they aren’t getting better. You can live with Giovanny Urshela and Francisco Lindor struggling a bit, because they will improve.

It’s not likely that Hagadone and Atchison will be better as the season goes on.

Tribe Last 27 Games, Much Better Than First 27.

When we evaluated the Cleveland Indians after the first sixth of the season, they were floundering at 10-17, on a pace to go 60-102 for the season.

The next 27 games proved to be much more successful, mostly due to the starting pitching and the bullpen settled into some redefined roles.

Terry Francona’s club went 16-11 in this group of games and hit the one-third point in the season at 26-28 and very much in the mix for a post-season berth.

The Royals have come back to the pack a bit and the Tigers have been in a major slump, so the surprising Minnesota Twins are currently the division leaders, with the Indians five games back. They sit just two and a half games out of a wild card spot.

The offense improved, thanks to a historic month by Jason Kipnis, who was moved to the leadoff spot, and currently sits 6th in the American League in runs scored per game. They are 4th in the league in OPS, mostly because they are 2nd in on base percentage, led by Carlos Santana, who leads the AL in walks.

Still, the offense is inconsistent. In the last 28 games, the Tribe scored three runs or less in 14 of them, exactly half of them. However, they scored seven or more runs in six games, which is what improved their ranking. Thanks to the pitching staff, they won four of the games they scored three runs or fewer.

The Twins rank just ahead of Cleveland in runs per game, and they had 10 games of three runs or less in that span, along with seven games scoring seven or more. It’s a slightly less volatile attack.

When they score four or more runs, the Indians are 21-9.

Without a more consistent offense, the pitching has to shoulder the entire burden for this team winning.

The Tribe pitching staff ranks 11th in the Junior Circuit in ERA, but the way the starters are going, they will continue to rise in that statistic. And they lead the AL in strikeouts by a wide margin, fanning 39 more hitters than Tampa Bay in two fewer games.

The “Big Four” of Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Carlos Carrasco, and Danny Salazar all have allowed fewer hits than innings pitched and struck out twice as many hitters as they have walked. That is outstanding.

All of them have an ERA under 4.00 as well. Over the last month, since Kluber’s 18 strikeout performance against St. Louis, a span of 23 games, Tribe pitchers have allowed more than four runs in a game just four times, and in two of those games, they allowed just five runs.

That’s dominant pitching.

Shawn Marcum isn’t the fireballer the rest of the guys are, but he’s provided good outing in three of his four starts. Despite not being able to throw in the mid 90’s, he is striking out almost a hitter per inning.

As for the bullpen, Cody Allen has pitched well since the end of April, allowing just four earned runs in 16-1/3 innings, striking out 23. His return to form has stabilized the ‘pen, and the others have followed suit.

Bryan Shaw is looking more and more like the guy who pitched here in 2013 and 2014.

Zack McAllister and Nick Hagadone have been inconsistent, and Scott Atchison was not pitching well before he went on the DL with an ankle injury.

Things are looking up at Progressive Field.

The starters are throwing like we all expected entering the season, and if the bats can start showing some improvement, it could be a fun summer downtown.

What a difference the second sixth of the season was.